utgard14 Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) investigates insurance fraud and a series of murders. Another Monogram Chan film that is helped by the return of "Number Two Son" Jimmy Chan (Victor Sen Yung), last seen in the 1942 Fox film Castle in the Desert. Up until this point at Monogram, Charlie had been saddled with dull-as-dirt Tommy Chan, played by bland Benson Fong. Victor Sen Yung is a breath of fresh air for this stale series. That being said, he can only do so much. It's still Monogram so it's still cheap. Also, there's still obtrusive comic relief Birmingham Brown, played by bug-eyed Mantan Moreland. The good news is that Moreland doesn't overpower Sen Yung like he did Fong. So it's a watchable effort but nothing special. But when it comes to the Monogram series, watchable is about as much as you can hope for.

kga58 This CHAN entry is a little different from the opening. First, there is a sequence in the Missing Persons Bureau with an off-screen narrator explaining the goings on. Then the "torso killings"--shades of the Black Dahlia. I don't recall such gruesome deaths in the earlier Chans, although here they are only spoken of. The plot is pure Monogram Chan for better or worse(a scorecard would come in handy with this outing as well as most of the others). The interaction between Toler, Sen Yung and Mantan Moreland is as always fun to watch. Much has been made of Moreland's parts in these films and their supposed "racist" overtones. Maybe so, but IMNTBHO him playing a scared bumbler is no different than Lou Costello playing a scared bumbler in one of the A&C flicks---and they are both super at it. If all else fails there is beautiful Tanis Chandler to ogle! Why she never became a true star is beyond me--she's a sight.

classicsoncall Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is on two cases at once in "Shadows Over Chinatown", one is business, the other personal. The trail of the two investigations converge when it's learned that the missing person he is trying to locate once worked with the murder victim. Overshadowing the entire plot is an insurance fraud scheme involving the principals of an escort service. In typical Monogram fashion, the story reveals a few interesting leads that go nowhere, such as the unlucky number thirteen, the number of people on a bus headed to San Francisco with Chan's party aboard. Charlie also exposes a pickpocket without revealing his identity to the rest of those on board, a ruse that works to his advantage later in the film. We haven't seen Victor Sen Yung since the 20th Century Fox Series of Charlie Chan films, but he's back in this one as Number #2 Son Jimmy, along with chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). Moreland's screen time and comfort level progressed through the first few Monogram films, but here it seems like he's back to square one with a reduced role and not much to do except keep Jimmy company. He does get a good line in at one point when an unconscious Jimmy falls out of a closet - "Every time I open a door a dead body drops out".The pieces of the puzzle eventually come together when a phony private detective is revealed to be in on the insurance scam with the head of the escort service. Chan enlists the aid of his missing person target, Mary Conover (Tanis Chandler), who agrees to seek her former job back at the agency. It's wrapped up pretty quickly, with Mary successfully reuniting with her boyfriend and grandmother.

admjtk1701 Another waste of a great title for a Chan film. It starts out with Chan (Sidney Toler), his son, (Sen Yung, who returned to the series with this film), and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) travelling to San Francisco by bus. (If Chan has a chauffeur, why are they riding by bus?)The plot involves the Missing Persons Bureau and dismembered torsos. But it really doesn't do anything for me. I'd rather watch a Fox Chan or re-read one of the Bigger's novels.